"Art grows out of each particular situation, and I believe that artists are better off working with whatever their environment throws up."
- El Anatsui
I am fusing a project from my Aesthetics of Sustainability class with my final project for this class (3D). I am working with a non-profit called "Playtime in Africa" - located in Accra, Ghana - it is the only park in the area. The organization does amazing stuff for the community, using - limited resources, various artists with kids and people from the community - they have created a truly amazing space. El Anatsui is from Ghana as well, which I didn't find out until looking into more of this work/philosophies. [Photo from Playtime in Africa, made from a donated Spool]
Back to the Artist - I was researching bottle cap art and came across his work - His piece [first photo above, made out of bottle caps]. I chose to share because I think it is amazing what he has created from what we normally think of as trash. It can bring a different dimension to how we view materials - I have been collecting bottle caps for over the past week and it has already connected me to my piece in a different/more impactful way than previous projects. His goal as an artist is to engage cultural/social/economic histories of West Africa.
His website: http://www.nmafa.si.edu/exhibits/gawu/index.html
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